Mick Jones, the sole remaining member from the band’s hit-making days, might take issue with me calling Foreigner a Foreigner cover band. But what else can I call it? Keith Richards performing with five guys off the street could not rightfully be dubbed the Rolling Stones, could it?
I saw the real Foreigner perform once, way, WAY back when. It was at Oakland Arena (I think) and (I’m pretty sure) April Wine opened. There was a third band on the bill, who I’ve completely forgotten. I was in sixth grade, maybe seventh, and I believe Foreigner was touring in support 1979’s “Head Games.” I was there with my pals, Brian and Jim and, maybe, Raul. My dad drove us to the show – that much I’m sure of.

There have been thousands of concerts for me since then, which is why my memory is so foggy on the details. It was clearly not as memorable as some of the other concerts from my youth (like Cheap Trick, KISS and AC/DC). I’d love it if somebody can help refresh my memory about this show. It was April Wine that opened, correct? Wish I could remember what their hit song was.

The 2008 version of Foreigner delivered a pretty enjoyable evening at Wente and most concert-goers acted like they were getting their money’s worth. The band does have an impressive catalog of hits and some (like “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero”) sound great in 2008. The power ballads (“I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You”) sound as dreadful today as they did in the day. But no more dreadful.

Still, I kept thinking that I was watching a Foreigner cover band, not Foreigner. I was curious about how many different band members have been in Foreigner over the years, so I dialed up Wikipedia. The answer was a whole heck of a lot. To illustrate, I have included Wiki’s list of both current and past members. You might want to grab a cup of coffee before you read it – because it’s long.

Jim Harrington

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What a sad and negative review, what is most sad is that this writer is not able to enjoy an event like this, hey man this is rock and roll, relax and have some fun in life
you only go around once

Marc

Chris

I think, if memory serves me, April Wine’s big hit was the awful make-out ballad “Just Between Me And You.” Consider yourself lucky that you can’t remember it.

Mike

I’ve only seen Foreigner once, and like Mr. Harrington, it was on the Head Games tour. The show I attended was at the Forum, in Los Angeles. The opening act in LA was Rick Derringer: “Rock n Roll Hoochie Coo”.

About this set list… I suppose the good news is it’s a safe one, packed with the biggest hits most people want to hear. Other than Starrider, there aren’t enough album cuts for my taste. And it need not be the case, because that set list is SHORT.

Add 3 or 4 album tracks such as “Blue Morning”, “Love has taken its Toll”, “Woman oh Woman”, & “Rev on the Red Line”.

Kansas a band 35 years in the making, and what seemed to be a good start to a great evening, instead I saw a bunch of middle-aged guys all seeming to suffer from an ex-alcoholics’ lack of energy run through an uninspiring set.

It was such a shame that they opened for Foreigner and Styx.

When Styx came on I was feeling somewhat lackluster “Influence and Innovation” Styx didn’t show it, Foreigner, Styx and Kansas. Don’t put them in the same bag ever again. They may have had many hits, had a lot of good songs, but that doesn’t matter. Musical talent doesn’t even matter. The only thing that matters with the hall is “Influence and Innovation”, and Styx didn’t do anything new, nor did they influence anyone. They won’t get in; I’m a sorry Styx fan.

Foreigner Which is why I can’t understand the popularity of the recent ‘dinotour’ trend of ancient rockers dusting off their decades old hits and walking through them for the thousandth time, AND PEOPLE PAYING HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS EACH TO SEE THEM, the lead singer was no more than a Mick Jaeger copy resurrected from the 60’s but a very poor copy. Foreigner’s new songs failed to even raise a toe tap.

Over all this was one of the worst Rock Concerts I had attended in decades

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